National coach Stephen Constantine sounded delighted but wasn’t willing to read too much into it.

“When I came over for my second stint, one of my tasks was to improve our FIFA rankings. With the results which we have had so far, it is clear that we have succeeded,” he told www.the-aiff.com.

“It’s been a total team effort. Unless Mr Patel (AIFF President Praful Patel) and Mr Das (AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das) allowed me to do the things and the manner I wanted it to be done, this won’t have been possible ever.”

“But this is just the beginning of the long-term plan which we envisage for Indian football. I am certainly not over the moon as I feel my team can achieve much more,” he added.

India were ranked 171 when Constantine took over for the second time in February 2015 and slipped further to 173 in March 2015.

Constantine won his first game in-charge against Nepal 2-0.

Argentina continues to head the list with 1621 points. Reigning world champions Germany moved up to second behind Argentina, pushing Belgium out of the top three.

Five-time world champions Brazil also moved up a place to third. Belgium went down to the fourth position.